Hurray! We get an extra day to play this year. For those born on February 29, you finally get another birthday after having a few years with no presents.
Of course, if we ever adopt the new calendar proposed you will have a birthday every year. The Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar has at least 30 days in every month and an extra week at the end of every five or six years. An interesting concept that has the same date on the same day every year. Seems too practical to ever be adopted, but it is a nice concept. You will probably be reading more about it soon. LINK
Samoa skipped Friday December 30 in 2011 and went from Thursday to Saturday so it could be moved to the other side of the international date line. It decided it was losing two business days a week with its favorite trading partners in Australia and New Zealand. American Samoa, an hour away by plane, will remain on the other side of the international dateline. That will be some time travel. You can go there and celebrate two birthdays every year.
Jan 6, 2012
Video Glasses
Finally this technology is getting closer. I have been waiting for this since they first were developed a number of years ago. It was the same old story, high prices and low quality. Now, we are so close. The only thing missing is that they do not yet support wireless technology. Wouldn't it be nice to eliminate that monitor or TV screen and just wear cool glasses?
Vuzix has updated its line of video eye-wear and is compatible with both 2D and 3D content, the glasses can display an equivalent of up to 75-inch screen as seen from a distance of 10 feet and feature separate focus adjustment for each eye as well as adjustable eye distance and viewing angles. The lenses also come in different colors for the fashion conscious.
Weighing approximately 3oz with twin 1280 x 720 LCD, 16 million color displays with 35 degree diagonal field of view and 16:9 / 4:3 aspect ratio. Brightness, contrast, hue and color saturation are adjustable via on-screen controls and eye separation is also adjustable. It even has an adjustable nose bridge for folks that have a nose like mine.
Connectivity options include composite AV cable, component video cable and AV cable for most videophones, portable DVDs, and camcorders, but there's no HDMI input or wireless connectivity. These can also connect to PCs and laptops for game playing with VR head tracking. Using them with a camera is cool for those high, low, or behind shots where you do not have to keep your eye in the viewfinder.
Two rechargeable AA batteries provide up to three hours of video playback and reportedly can be replaced with lithium ion batteries offering up to seven hours. The video-glasses are available now from $169 - $499. I love technology.
http://www.vuzix.com/home/
Moverio is an alternative $770 pair of glasses that sports a 80 inch 3D experience and has a slot for a picture card and plays music. Not quite HD quality, but close. LINK 2012 may be the year for a breakthrough.
Vuzix has updated its line of video eye-wear and is compatible with both 2D and 3D content, the glasses can display an equivalent of up to 75-inch screen as seen from a distance of 10 feet and feature separate focus adjustment for each eye as well as adjustable eye distance and viewing angles. The lenses also come in different colors for the fashion conscious.
Weighing approximately 3oz with twin 1280 x 720 LCD, 16 million color displays with 35 degree diagonal field of view and 16:9 / 4:3 aspect ratio. Brightness, contrast, hue and color saturation are adjustable via on-screen controls and eye separation is also adjustable. It even has an adjustable nose bridge for folks that have a nose like mine.
Connectivity options include composite AV cable, component video cable and AV cable for most videophones, portable DVDs, and camcorders, but there's no HDMI input or wireless connectivity. These can also connect to PCs and laptops for game playing with VR head tracking. Using them with a camera is cool for those high, low, or behind shots where you do not have to keep your eye in the viewfinder.
Two rechargeable AA batteries provide up to three hours of video playback and reportedly can be replaced with lithium ion batteries offering up to seven hours. The video-glasses are available now from $169 - $499. I love technology.
http://www.vuzix.com/home/
Moverio is an alternative $770 pair of glasses that sports a 80 inch 3D experience and has a slot for a picture card and plays music. Not quite HD quality, but close. LINK 2012 may be the year for a breakthrough.
What's in a Name, Belsnickel
German for "fur-Nicholas," is a fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of southwestern Germany, where my family is originally from. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities.
Belsnickel's fur covers his entire body, and he sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. He is a companion of Saint Nickolas, a bit scary, and visits children at Christmas time to deliver socks or shoes full of candy, cakes, nuts, and fruit, but if the children are not good, they will find coal and/or switches (stick) in their stockings instead. Other traditions had him strewing those goodies on the floor and if an adult bent down to pick up something they were hit on the back from Belsnickel with a switch.
In many places, Belsnickel was a precursor to Santa Claus or St. Nickolas and the popularity in the US faded in the early 1900s. Many of the old traditional Santa equivalents always had coal and a switch for bad kids along with the goodies. Alas, many good life lessons have been replaced with the current - everyone gets everything attitude.
Belsnickel's fur covers his entire body, and he sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. He is a companion of Saint Nickolas, a bit scary, and visits children at Christmas time to deliver socks or shoes full of candy, cakes, nuts, and fruit, but if the children are not good, they will find coal and/or switches (stick) in their stockings instead. Other traditions had him strewing those goodies on the floor and if an adult bent down to pick up something they were hit on the back from Belsnickel with a switch.
In many places, Belsnickel was a precursor to Santa Claus or St. Nickolas and the popularity in the US faded in the early 1900s. Many of the old traditional Santa equivalents always had coal and a switch for bad kids along with the goodies. Alas, many good life lessons have been replaced with the current - everyone gets everything attitude.
Jan 3, 2012
More Robots in our Future
Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and owner of Foxconn, recently announced that it intends to build a robot-making factory and replace 500,000 workers with robots over the next few years.
It already has 10,000 robots busy at work in its factories, and the plan is to increase the number of robots to one million by 2013.
Hon Hai now has about 800,000 employees and a yearly revenue of about $60 billion. The company signed a letter of intent to invest $3.3 billion in robots for its Taiwan factories. He said the robots will increase the production value of Foxconn by about $4 billion over the next three to five years and create about 2,000 new jobs. It plans to build most of the robots itself, due to lack of production speed from some suppliers. Seems like some of the science fiction stories of robots making robots are coming true. The name Singularity leaps to mind.
It already has 10,000 robots busy at work in its factories, and the plan is to increase the number of robots to one million by 2013.
Hon Hai now has about 800,000 employees and a yearly revenue of about $60 billion. The company signed a letter of intent to invest $3.3 billion in robots for its Taiwan factories. He said the robots will increase the production value of Foxconn by about $4 billion over the next three to five years and create about 2,000 new jobs. It plans to build most of the robots itself, due to lack of production speed from some suppliers. Seems like some of the science fiction stories of robots making robots are coming true. The name Singularity leaps to mind.
Russian Dancers
These women may look like robots, but they have just perfected a smooth step. When they join the Berezka Dance Troupe, they are forbidden to tell anyone, including family how the 'floating step' is performed. This video shows off the beauty. Starting at about 1:30 it is really evident. LINK
Cheapskate Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo actively deprived himself of any comfort he saw no need for. He told his workshop assistants and friends that he didn’t care what food tasted like. He knew of no food that was not palatable, and only ate what was cheapest in providing him a balanced diet. He preferred to drink water, but understood the health benefits of wine and drank only the cheapest he could find.
His house was modest and squalid and infested with rats. In the coldest weather, he would simply put on another coat, or go for a jog. He once stated that because he had never been bitten by a flea, the rats did not seem a nuisance to him. He wore the same old dirty clothes, day after day, washing them and himself about twice a month in the nearest river or lake. He wore a pair of shoes until the soles nearly came off. Good thing he treated his art better than himself or we would all be deprived of the beauty.
His house was modest and squalid and infested with rats. In the coldest weather, he would simply put on another coat, or go for a jog. He once stated that because he had never been bitten by a flea, the rats did not seem a nuisance to him. He wore the same old dirty clothes, day after day, washing them and himself about twice a month in the nearest river or lake. He wore a pair of shoes until the soles nearly came off. Good thing he treated his art better than himself or we would all be deprived of the beauty.
A Look Back to 1912
How have things changed in the past one hundred years?
New Mexico and Arizona joined the US as 47th and 48th states.
Here is a political quote from that year, "Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt wins all the Republican primaries, but party bosses beholden to Wall Street block his nomination by the convention."
Here are a few prices from 1912:
Federal spending 690 million dollars
World Series tickets box seat $5 (Bleacher seats 50 cents)
Chevy six cylinder $2,150
gas 7 cents gallon
Loaf of bread 8 cents
Pound of coffee 15 cents
Dozen eggs 22 cents
Pound of butter 35 cents
Milk 12 cents quart
Ham 15 cents pound
Bacon 16 cents pound
Oreo cookies came to market in 1912
New Mexico and Arizona joined the US as 47th and 48th states.
Here is a political quote from that year, "Former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt wins all the Republican primaries, but party bosses beholden to Wall Street block his nomination by the convention."
Here are a few prices from 1912:
Federal spending 690 million dollars
World Series tickets box seat $5 (Bleacher seats 50 cents)
Chevy six cylinder $2,150
gas 7 cents gallon
Loaf of bread 8 cents
Pound of coffee 15 cents
Dozen eggs 22 cents
Pound of butter 35 cents
Milk 12 cents quart
Ham 15 cents pound
Bacon 16 cents pound
Oreo cookies came to market in 1912
Noel
Did you know that "Noel" entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, which itself is from the Latin nātālis (diēs), and means "day of birth".
Dec 30, 2011
Happy New Year
We made it through another one. This coming year should be fun for the politicians and election junkies. Don't forget to pick up 'Unelectum All' before voting. It has some great info to help you with your choice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)